


In Shining Armour

by NamelesslyNightlock



Series: Going Down Swinging [18]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Attraction, BAMF Loki (Marvel), Confused Avengers, Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluffy Ending, Humor, Loki (Marvel) Does What He Wants, Loki (Marvel) is Not Amused, Love Potion/Spell, M/M, Possessive Behavior, Protective Loki (Marvel), Romantic Fluff, Secret Relationship, loki to the rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-08-13 12:30:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20174299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NamelesslyNightlock/pseuds/NamelesslyNightlock
Summary: Losing a fight is never fun– except, perhaps, for when someone else arrives to win it for you.





	In Shining Armour

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt**— _“That was kind of hot.”_

You know, just once, it would be nice if the Avengers could face a run-of-the-mill villain. Just someone who wanted to rob a bank, or who wanted to blow up the United Nations, or kidnap the president. Something nice and calm, easy to deal with, done and dusted and home in time for dinner.

Tony was so _done_ with all of these mad people who thought they could take over the world, or who wanted to destroy the whole city with robot armies or use magic or time travel or fucking _spaceships_ to cause as much problems as they possibly could. They’d even had to deal with fucking _Atlanteans_ one time– because of course Atlantis existed and its king wanted to take over the whole planet because _why the hell not?_ Why shouldn’t even figures from fairy tales and legends show up to make their lives more difficult than they needed to be?

And speaking of legends– dear lord, but there was nothing as _frustrating_ as being woken up at four-thirty in the morning and being told that there was a freaking Asgardian making their way down 5th Avenue and leaving a path of destruction and tendrils of green magic in their wake.

For a moment, Tony missed the days when Loki used to be their most frequent opponent. Loki had always been fun to deal with, willing to engage in banter and wanting to cause mischief rather than actual harm– but in recent months his attacks had – obviously – lessened, and they were left with the boring villains who were only ever plotting something nefarious rather than simply out for entertainment.

When Tony made it to the scene of destruction, it was to find a woman who would have been beautiful if not for the maniacal laugh and the glint of madness in her eyes. And even if JARVIS had not said she was from Asgard, Tony would have known it from her clothes, and from the way that Thor immediately shouted in fury when he saw her, flying into a rage and charging forward with Mjölnir at the ready and lightning crackling over his skin.

JARVIS was flicking more information onto Tony’s HUD even as he watched Thor’s charge, and his eyes widened with each new stat. Because, shit– it didn’t look like they were going to have much of a chance.

But, that was fine, right? They were used to fighting against the odds—

Then the Enchantress held up her hands as they glowed green, and Thor was halted in mid-air. He struggled and yelled but he was no match for her magic—

And the Avengers hurried to reach them, but Thor’s reckless charge had put him too far from them to be able to do anything to help, and they could only watch as Amora leaned up and pressed her lips to Thor’s. She didn’t do anything more than that, but it was, unfortunately, more than enough. Thor stopped struggling and his eyes filled with sick adoration– and then, just like that, the Avengers had lost the best asset they had against the Asgardian sorceress.

That didn’t mean that they didn’t fight back, of course– Steve and Tony worked a strategy while Natasha a Clint moved to try and get around Amora’s other side. Hulk charged and was caught in a web of light green energy– and then another Asgardian wielding a large axe came out of nowhere and engaged the two spies, leaving Amora to focus on Tony and Steve before they had a chance to make a move.

The fight was over embarrassingly quickly.

Skurge could not be taken down with tasers and his armour deflected Clint’s arrows. The pair of former assassins had managed to entangle his legs but the man cut himself free before they could restrain him any further. As they began to tire, it almost looked like Skurge was _toying _with them.

Steve suffered a heavy hit when Amora used her magic to drop half a wall on him, and Hulk remained trapped in his cage of green energy. Thor had not moved since the start of the whole mess, and Tony…

Tony had spent most of the fight in the air, trying to help both Natasha and Clint as well as keeping an eye on Amora. He tried to dodge her blasts while returning a few of his own, but she was too quick with her shielding spells, and he never landed a thing.

So when Amora knocked Steve down Tony just went _fuck it_, and fired a missile at her that would have had the power to take out a small building– but she merely caught it with a spell and sent it back, forcing Tony to duck out of the way and let it explode high above the street. And then Amora’s magic changed, and instead of blasting him she threw it out in a _wave_ that tore Tony from the sky.

His back slammed into the road with enough force to crack the asphalt below him, and Tony couldn’t find the strength to move before she was on him– quite literally _on_ him, one knee pressing into the centre of his chest as she leaned over his face.

“I think that you’ll make a fine addition to my team,” she crooned.

Yeah, okay. So that was a little creepy.

A touch of movement caught Tony’s attention, and he focused in on it with the HUD. It was Steve, making his way out from under the rubble of the wall that had landed on him. He was dusty and dirty and his uniform was a little torn, but otherwise he looked all right. His shield and his serum had served him once again, thank goodness. Perhaps he would be able to sneak up from behind while Amora was distracted—

But then Amora’s fingernails dragged over the armour at Tony’s throat, and she leaned in toward Tony’s helmet, her eyes dancing with anticipation.

“Let’s get this off you, shall we?” she asked.

Tony knew that his suit was strong and could hold up to all but the largest of explosions, but Amora had magic on her side. It was all too likely that she would be able to pull the helmet away– and when Tony thought of the horrifyingly adoring expression that still decorated Thor’s face…

Yeah, fuck no.

He tried to lean away, wishing that Steve would hurry up, because there was not a lot of time before he turned into a snivelling, simpering mess that would do Amora’s bidding with a single beckon of her fingers. But she must have been holding him down with magic or something because he couldn’t even move a muscle.

She was so close now, and Tony could feel an itching at his neck as she began to work the helmet free—

There was nothing he could do, and– well, he hadn’t _resigned_ himself to it, but he was certainly expecting the worst when there was the sound of a snarl from the other side of the street.

“What do you think you are doing?”

The words were hissed and laced with rage, the syllables sticking together in a way that they normally didn’t, at least not when spoken in that worryingly familiar voice. Tony still couldn’t turn his head, but Iron Man’s field of vision was wide enough for the scene to be displayed on his HUD. Loki was standing like he was ready for a fight, his daggers in his hands, his full armour in place, and his glare locked on Amora with all the wrath of a vengeful god.

And, despite the fact that the position the Avengers had found themselves in was _more_ than a little embarrassing, Tony breathed out with a sigh of complete and utter relief.

“The Avengers will become mine, Loki,” Amora snarled, not moving from her position on Tony’s chest save for turning her head. “I will no longer be content with just Thor, I shall have them all.”

“No, you will not,” Loki snarled. “They are _mine_, and no one else shall ever be permitted to destroy them.”

For a moment, it seemed like Amora was going to laugh. But then Loki was stalking forward with his eyes blazing green, and then Amora was about as far from laughing as anyone could get.

She held her hands up to create another one of those shields that had caused Tony so many problems, but Loki’s magic tore straight through it and she was blasted to the side. Loki moved to follow her, his movements that of a predator stalking his prey– but he paused as passed by Tony.

Loki stared at Tony searchingly for a moment, and Tony waved his hand in a _I’m fine_ sort of way as he moved to try and get up. He was still sore and the fight with Amora had not done wonders for his suit, but with her distracted he was at least in control of his own limbs.

By the time Tony had extracted himself from the crater in the ground and pushed into a sitting position, Loki and Amora were locked in a vicious fight, the greens of their magic clashing in the air and the force of it was _cracking _the street.

It was clear that Amora was losing– she was giving it everything that she had, her magic focused on Loki and trying to wrap around him, her harsh blasts growing harsher. But while she was throwing out all her power at once, Loki’s seiðr was more targeted, working its way under her shields even as it pushed her back. And then, just as Amora threw out her hands with a screech that exploded with power, Loki forced his way through it and slammed her against the side of a building, one of his daggers pressed hard against her throat.

“Do _not_ move,” he spat.

“Traitor,” Amora spat back. “You side with them?”

Loki’s only response to the taunt was to arch a brow and to say, “Remove the enchantment on Thor.”

“He is—”

“_Remove_ it,” Loki demanded, and the dagger drew a line of blood to make the point of what would happen if she didn’t.

She snapped and snarled and bared her teeth, but in the end, she didn’t have a choice. And the moment Thor straightened, yelled, and _launched_ himself at Skurge who had just been cornered by the other three Avengers, Loki dropped the knife and threw Amora to the ground, standing over her with fire and seiðr still burning in his eyes.

“You are going to leave now, and you are never going to come back,” Loki snarled. “And you will tell anyone else you come across that this city is _mine_. And if the Avengers cannot keep away anyone else who tries to attack it, then they will have to deal with _me_.”

Amora scurried away in the face of his rage, disappearing– then reappearing to grab Skurge– and then vanishing entirely.

And then, with one final cursory glance over to Tony, Loki vanished into nothing– and unlike Amora, he didn’t leave a single trace.

“Okay,” Tony said, unable to help himself. “That was awesome. Guys, I think I’m in love.”

“Tony,” Steve groaned. “_No_. That wasn’t awesome, he just destroyed an entire _street_.”

“Aw, come on,” Tony said, twisting on the ground to look backward at the others. “You have to admit, that was kind of hot.”

“Um, no,” said Clint from where he was leaning against a wall for support, shaking his head. “I don’t… I don’t see it.”

Thor meanwhile, looked a little pale, and Tony just hoped that he was still reeling from whatever he had felt under the enchantment and hadn’t heard what Tony had said in his uncontrolled moment of awe.

Deciding to try and shift the focus, Tony said– “And besides, the street was _already_ mostly destroyed.”

At least, Tony supposed, the _best_ thing about having a certain reputation was that no one on the team took him seriously when he said such things. It made it far easier to keep certain aspects of his life from falling under their scrutiny.

The _worst_ thing about fights with villains, however, was always the debrief. Thankfully, though, everyone was tired from the early wakeup call and the exhausting battle, and Tony was sure Steve was feeling more than a little sympathetic for Thor, as well. He still looked a bit like he was in need of either thirteen hours sleep or a stiff drink– or probably both.

So the debrief, for once, didn’t last too long, and they were all so freaking over everything that Tony wasn’t the only one rushing for his bed.

He was probably the only one who received a glare when he got back to it, though.

“Why did you take so long,” Loki groaned, his green eyes flashing from under his nest of blankets. “Amora was defeated _hours_ ago.”

“It’s been about forty-five minutes,” Tony chuckled, sitting down to remove his shoes.

“It’s too long,” Loki muttered, pulling the blanket even tighter up over his nose, muffling his voice a little. “I am _tired_ of petty criminals interrupting my sleep.”

“Is that why you came to help?” Tony asked. “And here I thought you did it because I was in trouble.”

Loki muttered something under his breath that Tony didn’t quite hear before falling silent, and by the time Tony had changed into his pyjamas and climbed into bed, he thought that Loki might have fallen asleep and he’d have a fight on his hands to get hold of half the duvet. But when he gently touched Loki’s shoulder, Loki lifted his arm so that Tony could press close, and they curled together in the warmth.

“Thanks for coming, either way,” Tony said softly, relaxing as Loki’s arm wrapped around his waist. “It’s much appreciated, and I mean, if you decide to do it again, I’m not going to complain.” 

“Anthony, if I have to save you every time someone attacks with magic, then the Avengers are in a far worse state than I thought,” Loki said, his tone teasing. Tony felt Loki’s lips press against his shoulder, and he grinned.

“You could always teach us,” Tony suggested. “Oh master of magic, please share with us your ways.”

“Maybe I could give your team more practice,” Loki said, amused. “Perhaps I should play the villain again. I’ve heard that kidnapping heroes is a very villainous sort of thing to do.”

“Sounds fun,” Tony agreed sleepily. “But can it at least wait until tomorrow? I’m kind of comfortable right now.”

“Perhaps the day after,” Loki said thoughtfully. “I think tomorrow, we need to lay some magical protections on your suit. You are woefully incompetent against seiðr, and I won’t have what almost happened today ever happen again.”

Tony couldn’t decide whether to be insulted by the comment or warmed by the obvious affection behind the reasoning for it, so he just decided to snuggle down into his lover’s arms happily.

Besides, he didn’t mind whether they decided to use the day to magic-proof the armour, or whether Loki ‘kidnapped’ him, or whether they did something else entirely. Because as long as Tony could spend the day with Loki, then really, it would be a day well spent.


End file.
